


I Forgot That You Existed

by likehandlingroses



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-29
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-09-28 21:23:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20432669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/likehandlingroses/pseuds/likehandlingroses
Summary: When Cornelius Fudge is ousted as Minister, Percy learns that sometimes the people who teach you the most can come to mean the least.





	I Forgot That You Existed

“–not opposed to keeping on some of the current staff, though as a rule, I’d like the luxury of phasing in my own choices. You understand, I’m sure.”**  
**

Percy stopped in front of the half-open office door, holding his breath. After weeks of chaos as the entire world clamored for Minister Fudge’s resignation, it had been something of a relief to have Rufus Scrimgeour replace him.

That relief had burned out rather quickly as Scrimgeour scanned the administrative offices with a keen, sharp gaze, measuring the rooms and everyone in them. No doubt of it: he was looking to clear house. 

“Well, I’d highly recommend keeping on Cecil Sturm and Holden Ashbury…” Fudge said, and Percy knew he was twisting his green bowler in hand, pretending he wasn’t bothered by the prospect of Scrimgeour tearing out the administration he’d spent years cultivating. “Stellar track records, both of them…”

“What about the Weasley boy?” Scrimgeour said. “Percy, isn’t it?”

Percy looked down the hall to see if anyone was coming before stepping just a bit closer to the door, his fingers tensed around the scrolls in his hand. 

Fudge cleared his throat. “Weasley is…well, to tell you the truth, his temperament is rather unsettled, even silly…not an ounce of prudence…is he a quick worker? Certainly. But I think he came up here much too soon.”

Percy didn’t hear Scrimgeour’s reply; it was muffled by the rush of heat to Percy’s cheeks, the sudden dizziness that overcame him. 

“I think he’s better off being rehoused,” Fudge said, his voice breaking through once again. “Put him back under a department head…though that didn’t go so well last time, did it?”

It was Fudge’s laughter that finally pushed Percy away from the door, blinking back tears. 

He’d spent weeks standing by Fudge, in the face of every instinct telling him that something was wrong. Months, really, during which Percy had lost almost everything else. And Fudge saw him–saw everything he’d done–as a kind of joke. 

Percy took a deep breath before rolling his shoulders back and approaching the front desk of the administrative offices. 

“Margo, could I trouble you to send off a records request for me?” 

In another half-hour, he stood in Minister Scrimgeour’s office, lingering after the midday briefing, his hands clutching a file with his name scrawled on it. 

“Minister–”

“Yes, Mr. Weasley?” Scrimgeour said, no small hint of a sigh in his voice. 

“–well, I-I couldn’t help but overhear some of what you were speaking about with Minist–with _Mr._ Fudge. In regards to my future employment.”

Scrimgeour looked at him over his glasses. “And you were hoping to plead your case?”

Not letting the weariness in Scrimgeour’s voice deter him, Percy set the file down on Scrimgeour’s desk. Scrimgeour sat forward, pulling the file closer to him with interest. 

“My review, from just a few weeks ago,” Percy said as Scrimgeour began to peruse its contents. “I think it speaks for itself. Unless _something_ has changed during the past fortnight…in which case, I understand–with how busy _Mr._ Fudge has been lately–that it might have slipped his mind to mention his grievances with my conduct before now.” 

Scrimgeour, still skimming the pages, nodded absently. 

“Mr. Weasley,” he said in a low voice, his eyes lingering on the page for another moment before looking Percy in the eye. “Do you have any idea why Mr. Fudge would characterize you one way in this document, and another way to me?”

“I wouldn’t begin to guess,” Percy said. “I’ve learned over the past few months that my ideas of things differ greatly from Mr. Fudge’s. So…” 

He trailed off, heartened by the flicker of a smile that crossed Scrimgeour’s lips.

“If it is agreeable to you, Mr. Weasley, I would prefer to keep you at your current position.”

“It is,” Percy said, standing up straighter. “Very much so.” 

* * *

_Excerpt from Percy Ignatius Weasley’s profile in_ **“Up and Coming–The Witches and Wizards of the New Millennium” **_by Maisie Goodall _(published January 1st, 1999)

_ Cornelius Fudge rarely engages with the press, and he was even more reluctant to speak to me when I mentioned Percy Weasley’s name. Bad blood, I assumed…but he wrote me again two days later and asked if I’d like to meet after all. _

_It is–perhaps–only a coincidence that his owl dropped in exactly six hours after Percy Weasley was handed an Order of Merlin by Minister Shacklebolt for his work in the post-war treason trials. _

_In either case, Fudge is now eager to talk about “young Weasley,” who he says he remembers as “rather clownish, to tell you the truth.” _

_His disdain for Mr. Weasley is clear. He tells me no less than five times that he believes Mr. Weasley lied to keep his position under Minister Scrimgeour, when about two-thirds of Fudge’s administration was shunted off or cleared out entirely. _

_“If he’s good at one thing, it’s weaseling his way out of tight spots,” Fudge says with contempt. “Fitting, I suppose.”_

_When I inform Mr. Weasley of these comments, he only leans back in his chair with a laugh._

_“He’s thought about it quite a lot, hasn’t he?”_

_Does he reflect much on his time under Minister Fudge? I ask him. _

_“After everything that’s happened? Not particularly.”_

_But–I press–surely he must bear his former supervisor a certain amount of ill-will? Most of the public does, certainly. _

_After taking a rather large sip of wine, he answers: _

_“As I said: I really don’t think of him, much. There are lessons to be learned with everything in life, but I don’t get out my grammar books every time I go to compose a letter, do I? If you learn the lesson, you don’t need to think about how you learned it.”_

_He squints in the sun, shading his eyes. _

_“When it comes to the man, I’m quite indifferent.”_

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! This is based on the Taylor Swift song, "I Forgot That You Existed."
> 
> I’m doing a ficlet (500-1000 words) for each of the new songs on Taylor Swift’s album “Lover,” so click through the series for more, if that interests you at all!


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